


The Sound of Rain and Thunder

by T_Hurricane



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Complete, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Leader Keith (Voltron), Panic Attacks, Platonic Relationships, Protective Lance (Voltron), Season 3, Shiro (Voltron) is Missing, Sleep Deprivation, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:00:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28737666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/T_Hurricane/pseuds/T_Hurricane
Summary: Keith can't sleep.Not with everything that is going on - not withhimstill missing. But he can't sleep, and he doesn't know what to do.Luckily someone notices.Set at the beginning of season 3! (So season 3 spoilers)
Relationships: Keith & Voltron: Legendary Defender Team, Lance & Keith (platonic)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	The Sound of Rain and Thunder

"Hey, are you okay man?" 

That was all the warning Keith got before Hunk's big and gentle hand descended on his shoulder. 

He hated that he had flinched so hard at the contact. They all knew that he wasn't a touchy person, or at least they thought that he wasn't when in reality he was just not used to it, but he hated the hurt expression Hunk couldn't quite hide, even though he smiled at him and acted like he didn't notice. 

"I'm sorry, it's just been a few stressful weeks I guess" Keith said, trying to return the still gentle smile. 

"I understand. Just let me know if there is anything I can do for you. I know this sounds weak as an offer, but I can cook you something you like? Well, something we have ingredients left for" Hunk said, giving Keith's shoulder a subtle squeeze before retracting his hand. 

"Thanks Hunk. I really appreciate it" Keith said, although a part of him was fighting down another that wanted to spit back a different answer. 

"We'll find him" Hunk added, and Keith feared that he had not been as good in hiding this other part than he thought.

###### 

"Keith, are you listening?" Allura asked him carefully. 

The two if them had been standing on the bridge and discussing an upcoming coalition meeting. 

Like they had time for that. 

"I think I know what you are thinking..." Allura added, and that brought Keith completely back to the presence. 

"I'm sorry princess, what did you say?" he asked, blinking his eyes a few times to focus. 

"I was about to say that I think this has been enough. You should try to get some sleep. I know that it will be hard for you, but I promise to keep out looking until Coran takes over for the night cycle, okay?" she offered, reverting her answer. 

"Thank you. I appreciate it" Keith answered and slowly turned to leave. 

"Are you really sure it's okay?" he asked even though he didn't want to. 

He hated these things. Everyone knew that. 

But in his now new position as leader of Voltron he had too much of a guilty feeling for not offering to stay. 

"I am. Thank you for asking though, Keith" Allura responded, and she really meant it. 

"Alright then. Good night, princess" Keith said, turned around and left the bridge. 

As if he would be able to sleep.

###### 

„Woah, you really shouldn‘t be training right now, don‘t you think, Mullet?“ Lances voice broke through the steady rhythm of Keiths harsh pants, the whoosh of swords slicing through air and the mechanical humming of the training bot. 

Keith whirled around im surprise and stared incredulously at his teammate - what the hell was he doing here, anyways? - and managed to jump back right in time before the training bot could slice him in half. 

„End training sequence“ he said, and the bot stilled. 

_„Training sequence - gladiator - weapon type: sword - one opponent: level 63 of 100 - ending“_ a robotic voice sounded at the same time.

„Since when does the training room speak? And level 63? How - Keith, what are you doing here at freaking 3 am in the morning?“ Lance asked, again. 

„I could ask you the same question“ Keith answered coldly and went to the side to grab a towel. 

„Geez, sorry for looking out for my teammates, Mr. Grumpy-Swordsmen“ Lance sighed and turned to leave. 

What was the point of staying if he was clearly unwanted?

„Lance... wait“ he heard Keith sigh quietly. 

„I didn‘t mean it like this. I just... There has been a lot going on lately with the coalition and being a leader all of a sudden and finding Shiro and I... I needed to work out some stress I think“ he said, guilt at taking it out on Lance swimming in his voice. 

„I get it man. I know it seems like I - we - have lost interest in finding Shiro but trust me on this one - but he haven‘t. We miss him really really much, and we spend every free minute to search for him. Hunk is constantly watching the radars and comms to check for any clues. Pidge is is checking Galra flight logs whenever we get them for any indications of possible prisoners transports. Coran is contacting every ally we have, and I even saw Allura meditating and probably searching him through magic or some stuff" he said. 

"And I am worried. I know we have to move one at sone point and although we can and will never give up hope and our search… there is still a universe that needs saving" Lance continued. 

Keith only sighed. 

"A universe Shiro wanted to free and protect, too" he added. 

And that was it for Keith. 

"Please. Stop" he whispered, hating to see the expression on Lance's face as he looked up at the taller male, now standing right in front of him. 

"No" 

"No?" 

"Yup. N O" 

"What is your deal here?" Keith asked incredulously. 

"My deal is that I am worried! I am worried for you, Keith!" Lance replied heatedly. 

Keith could only stare back at him. 

"I have noticed, you know. The slouch in your posture. When you sometimes blink rapidly as if to come back from a daydream. And the bags under your eyes..." Lance added softly. 

"How long have you noticed?" Keith said with drooping shoulders and turning his back against the wall to slide down to a sit. He sighed again. 

"Apparently not for long enough" Lance said, sighing too and sitting down next to Keith on the floor. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes. 

Pure silence. 

Too much silence. 

And Keith couldn’t deal with the silence any longer.

"Keith?" Lance suddenly said. 

There was no answer other than sudden and shallow gasps.

"Woah, hey Keith, calm down, you need to breathe, okay?" Lance said, grabbing Keith at his shoulders to ground him but the other only jerked back. 

Because he couldn't.

Every night and day since Shiro had disappeared, he hadn't been able to bear the silence. 

There was no more soothing voice of a big brother.  
No more training with him.  
No more even feeling his presence. 

"Look, I'm sorry if talking about Shiro made you uncomfortable, I'm so sorry" Lance rambled, fearing that he had been the cause for this panic attack. 

"It's... It's not... that" Keith managed to say, still fighting for air. 

"What is it then?" Lance said, panic in his voice. 

"Count. It... helps" Keith gasped, but Lance had understood. 

"Uhm, okay, so try to mimic me: Breathe in: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - and now out: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And again, In, 1. 2. 3, ..." Lance said, hoping that he was doing this right. 

Apparently he was, because after a few sets of counts Keith managed to get a deep and steady breath in. 

„Very good, you’re doing really great“ Lance said and continued counting. Keith was grateful for the instructions and his breaths slowly aligned with those of Lance until he felt secure enough to relax. He closed his eyes and followed the commands of Lance’s soothing and grounding voice. 

„You back with me again?“ Lance said after what felt like hours but could have only been minutes. 

„Yeah. I think so. Uhm.. thank you, Lance“ Keith whispered, not opening his eyes. He instead slumped completely back against the wall, his exhaustion fully catching up on him. 

„How did you know how to do this anyways?“ he suddenly asked, and Lance was grateful that Keith had his eyes closed because he couldn’t help the blush tinting his cheeks a delicate pink. 

„It’s a longer story“ he tried to evade the question. 

„Well, I have time to spare right now“ he replied, still mildly panting. 

„It’s not like I can sleep, anyways“ Keith added, muttering the last part under his breath. 

„Fine. Well, one night, back home with my parents and siblings, we decided to watch some horror movie about a serial killer. My niece and nephew were both in bed already, but like little kids are they tried to argue that they wanted to stay awake. My brother, so their Dad, didn't allow it though so they were a bit mad. And well, wanting to be their cool uncle I didn't call out on them when I saw that they had snuck down from their room to secretly watch. My niece... she didn't take it all too well. Had a panic attack right after the first kill and I saw how my Mama calmed her by using this counting method" Lance explained. 

"Why would you let a little kid watch a horror movie?" Keith snorted. 

"Well, I'm sorry, I learned my lesson. I bet you're the expert uncle or big brother then?" Lance retorted. 

"No... I'm not. I don't..." Keith sighed. 

"I don't have a family. I never had since my Pa died when I was 9. No other than Shiro. But he is gone. Again. I lost him again" Keith said, and Lance was shocked that when Keith opened his eyes for the first time after he had closed them, tears escaped and ran down his cheeks. 

"I don't have a family anymore. I'm alone - again - and I don't know what to do, Lance. I don't even know why I am even telling you this. You shouldn't be up because of me. Get some sleep" Keith said and stood up while hastily wiping at his tears. 

"Again: No" Lance said, grabbing Keith's wrist and yanking him down to the floor 

"Hey, what do you think you-" Keith started, but was cut right off. 

"No! I can't with you anymore - not with this you that still thinks that you're all alone! I think I need to make something really clear here because apparently this hasn't gone through your thick skull, so listen!" Lance almost shouted. 

"Keith. You are not alone. Do you understand?? You are not alone. We are all here for you, and I have given you plenty of space but now I have enough of it. You are hurting yourself" Lance continued. 

"No I'm not" Keith breathed out, but Lance had heard. 

"Then when was the last time you slept? And I'm not talking about the little hasty naps you squeeze in between meetings and dinner or lunch. When was the last time you actually, really slept?" he finished. 

That deflated Keith. 

"I.... It's not like want to not sleep. Believe me, I tried many, many times to sleep. But I can't" Keith admitted. 

"Why?" Lance asked. 

"Because I can't get my head to silence. Every minute I am awake and spend not looking for him feels wrong. It keeps me from sleeping. It haunts me. And feeling like a failure as la leader even more because I can’t even focus on simple things or help Allura with coalition work. Not like he did, anyways. I just - I can't get my inner voice to silence, so I drown it out with sounds from outside" he said and hid his face. 

"So... that's why you're out here in the middle of the night in the training room?" Lance asked gently. 

„Yeah“ Keith said. Silence fell upon them once again, but this time it didn’t feel so pressing. 

„I think I might have something that could help“ Lance suggested. 

„At this point I am willing to try anything“ Keith only said. 

„Great! Then let’s go“ Lance said and stood up. He went to stand in front of Keith and offered his hand to help the other up. 

„What are you going to do, exactly?“ Keith asked, unsure of what was awaiting him but still letting himself being helped up by Lance. 

„You’ll see. Just follow my lead“ Lance chirped with a smile while dramatically wiggling his eyebrows. 

„I am so going to regret this“ Keith mumbled, but he didn’t resist as Lance grabbed his wrist and pulled him with him. 

They left the training room and Keith immediately noticed that Lance was headed to the rooms they had all moved into. It wasn’t a big deal for him since everyone had their own room, but he frowned when Lance dragged him past his room towards the one Lance had chosen for himself. 

„Lance, why are we going to your room?“ Keith sighed. 

„Because this idea I have only works in my room. Now stop being so whiny and just trust my for 2 minutes, okay?“ Lance replied in a hushed tone as to not wake the others. 

„Fine“ Keith sighed again and found himself stepping into Lance’s room a second later. 

It was… very different from what he had expected. 

„Lance… what is all this?“ he asked as soon as the door slid close behind him. 

„What do you mean?“ Lance asked. 

„I mean all this stuff. My room is practically empty - how did you manage to fill your’s up with so much stuff in just a few months?“ Keith answered. 

„They are memories. If you look closely, you can tell where I have everything from“ Lance answered. 

„Uhm, okay… what is this coin?“ Keith asked, and Lance turned around from where he had strode off to search for something. 

„That is one of the coins Pidge and I collected to buy Killbot Phantasm in the space mall. Turns out that we miscounted and we had one to spare“ Lance responded. 

„And… this?“ Keith asked, pointing to something that looked like a fish. He didn’t want to admit it, but now he was curious. 

„Oh, that? It’s a gift from the queen of that icy water planet Hunk and I stranded on after that wormhole disaster“ Lance said, smiling at the memory. 

„And those headphones?“ Keith continued the game of question and answer. 

„Oh, those belong to Pidge. She lent them to me after I asked if I could borrow them“ Lance only said. 

„What do you need them for, then?“ Keith inquired. 

„I needed them because sometimes, I can’t sleep as well. It hasn’t been as extreme as for you in the past weeks. But well… It get’s too quiet for me, too. I… Back at home, I had my family always surrounding me. And even at night you would sometimes hear someone sneak into the kitchen or hear the bugs in the fields or the sound of the wind chime hanging outside at the porch. But this castle, as cool as it is… It’s just so silent. Even in the Garrison I was bunking with Hunk, and even though they could be annoying sometimes, his snores were still soothing.“ Lance explained. 

„Oh. I didn’t know that“ Keith admitted. 

„That is why“, Lance explained, and finally turned around with a grey orb in his hands, „I wanted to show you this“ he finished. 

„And this is…?“ Keith asked, still standing in the middle of the room and lifting his gaze to examine the new object. 

„You do know that you could have just sat down, right? No need to keep standing“ Lance only said, ignoring the question. 

„Uhm.. Honestly? I didn’t. But thanks. I guess“ Keith said, and he found himself playing with his hands and blushing in embarrassment. 

„Sorry. Dumb comment on my side“ Lane said, cringe audible in his voice. 

„Anyways, whenever you are here, just make yourself comfortable okay?“ Lance said while he went to sit down on the bed himself and patted the spot next to him. 

Keith reluctantly sat down and turned a questioning gaze to Lance. 

„So, this is something we have to thank Coran for. He gave it to me after my phone battery ran out and since then the headphones had also been useless. Maybe I should finally return them to Pidge… But anyways - this is a sound sphere“ Lance explained. 

„And what sounds does it make if you are apparently so fond of it?“ Keith only asked. 

„Well, you’re about to find out“ Lance said and smirked when he tapped the surface of the orb three times. 

Suddenly, but still very soft, something sounded from the sphere. It sounded like something was rhythmically crashing.

Lance expectantly looked at Keith. 

„What.. Is that? Is it broken?“ he hesitantly asked. 

„What? No! It’s waves! Waves breaking at the shore. It's soothing and helping me sleep“ Lance said. 

„Oh. I uhm… have never been at the sea before. Sorry“ Keith admitted. He felt how his cheeks and ears heated up at his statement. 

„What? You have never been at the beach?? Okay, as soon as we get to a planet with oceans and beaches you are going to let that leader title make us all have a beach day. Got it?“ Lance ordered after his initial shock. 

„Okay“ Keith laughed, somehow touched at what this meant. Lance didn’t make fun of him - he just wanted to make sure that Keith knew the experience, too. 

„Hmmm, if you don’t know ocean sounds yet, then this won’t work… Maybe we’ll try this one“ Lance thought aloud and tapped the sphere five times. 

The sound changed - and it almost made Keith flinch as the soft crashing sounds were suddenly replaced by rumbling thunder and heavy rain. 

He couldn’t help it. He closed his eyes and listened. 

„You like that one, huh?“ Lance asked after a few seconds, but Keith only managed a nod. 

A few seconds later, he shuddered as another thunder could be heard. 

„It’s… beautiful. How did you know that I could like this particular sound?“ he asked. 

„Well, since you don’t know waves I figured that must be because all that surrounds the Garrison is the desert and since you lived in that… I figured rain has to mean more to you?“ Lance guessed. 

„It does. It reminds me of the one time when it actually did rain. I was out with Shiro that day. He taught me how to use a hover bike that day. We were surprised by the rain, but rather than stopping and finding shelter we just drove further and further. We both came down with a nasty cold a few days later“ Keith chuckled, smiling slightly at the memory. 

„That sounds really cool. Well, except for the getting sick part“ Lance answered. 

„Thank you Lance. For listening and stuff“ Keith hastily said before closing his eyes again. He hadn’t even noticed how much he was leaning back already, but he allowed himself to lean further and lie completely on his back. 

Another thunder rolled through the room, the sound bouncing off the walls making it sound like they were actually sitting outside and in the rain.

They had to thank Altean tech for that. 

„I’m gad you like it“ Lance admitted, now also leaning back. 

„Mhm?“ Keith just hummed. 

„Oh, nothing“ Lance just said then and smiled happily as he saw Keith’s breath even out with sleep. 

He then proceeded to stand up, and after carefully removing their shoes he laid Keith’s feet on the bed, too. 

He pulled his blanket out under him and draped it over him, happy with himself that his idea had worked. 

And relieved that Keith had actually opened up to him. 

„Now, I’d call that a successful bonding moment, too“ he only whispered to himself and then went to also lie down, making himself comfortable under another blanket. He made sure to not get too close to Keith as he didn’t want to stress this new earned trust they had, but the other had curled up like a cat as soon as he had been hidden under the blanket and Lance had resisted the urge to take a photo. 

„Good night, Keith“ he mumbled with a grin and closed his eyes, too.

###### 

„Everything alright, number four?“ Coran asked Keith as soon as he appeared in the door of the kitchen. 

Everyone was seated around the big table, and they were having lunch. 

„Uhm. Yeah. Thanks“ he answered and moved to his own chair. 

None of them commented on how he was only up now, and no one seemed to question it.

It probably had something to do with the smile Lance shot his way. 

„Here, I made a stew from this strange roots that we found on that planet a while ago. Would you like some?“ Hunk offered a full bowl to him and he gladly accepted it. 

The meal went on as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and after they had all finished Keith found himself doing the dishes with Lance. 

„Hey, uhm… So. Thanks. For letting me sleep in your room and helping me and stuff“ he said with pink cheeks as he held out a spoon to Lance for him to dry. 

„Hey Keith? You’re welcome. And you are also welcome to do so again or to come to me if you have something you’d like to talk about, okay?“ Lance replied after he dried the spoon. 

„Okay. Thanks. I promise to remember that“ Keith said shyly. 

„Then I’m happy“ Lance smiled. 

And just as promised, Keith found himself talking to Lance more often, just as often as Lance had wordlessly let him in whenever Keith stood at his door in the middle of the night, this time in pajamas and bringing his own blanket. 

As soon as Hunk and Pidge had found out they all started to regularly have sleepovers in Lance’s room together.

Keith finally realized how right Lance had been. 

The circumstances were in no way optimal - his brother was still out there somewhere, he just knew it - but he also found something pleasant in this situation.

He wasn’t alone. 

Not anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! 
> 
> As always, I would be **super grateful for any comment** \- they are the only real measurement an author gets for their work!!
> 
> _I have created a discord server where you can share fan fiction you would like to recommend, get tips and help from other authors as well as help others out as author, simply chat with people, etc. - all for various fandoms! :) If you are interested to join, I'd be happy to welcome you there! **[Fan Fiction Library (Discord Server)](https://discord.gg/RuSjgxC68t) ** _


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